It Has Not Been For Nothing
by fanwriter1245
Summary: When an injured Meghan finds refuge in the castle at Northumberland, she begins to form bonds with others that she's never had before. Her new bunkmate, a three-year-old, and a certain leader all make her feel wanted. But when Americans invade their home and a dragon attacks not long after, some of those bonds will be forever shattered. QuinnxOC
1. Northumberland

**This isn't a popular fandom at all, but hey, one of my other stories makes up the entire category. Besides, I couldn't help but write another Bale-based story.**

* * *

"Help!"

Meghan limped along the burnt and dead land holding her bad arm with her other hand.

"Someone! Please help me!"

She saw a castle ahead of her, the first welcome sight she had seen in a while, and prayed that someone was in there and could hear her. She couldn't go on like this much longer.

"Anyone! Help me!"

Finally, Meghan saw two people coming towards her evidently having heard her cries. One of them had kind of curly hair while the other had a beard and mustache with unkempt brown hair.

"Help," she said weakly. She tried to walk forward, but her legs finally gave out on her. The bearded man caught her immediately and hefted her up bridal style. Weighed down by fear, starvation, weariness, and injuries, Meghan passed out in his arms.

"We need to get her inside!" Quinn said urgently to his friend, Creedy.

The two men quickly ran back into the castle and were hounded by all those who resided there wondering who this woman was. Quinn quickly carried her to his room and set her down on one of the extra beds.

"Creedy, get me a wet cloth and some bandages," he ordered. Creedy did as he was told and quickly brought back the necessary supplies. Quinn began fixing up the massive cut on her arm after placing the wet cloth on her head.

Creedy pushed away all the prying eyes attempting to peer into Quinn's room, insisting that there was nothing to see.

Not long after her arm was bandaged, Quinn placed his hand on her forehead overtop of the cloth. Suddenly, Meghan woke with a start and took some heaving breaths.

"Hey, hey, it's okay!" Quinn said to her. "You're safe now."

"Where am I?" she asked weakly as Creedy came to the other side of her.

"You're in a castle in Northumberland. We're refugees trying to keep safe from the dragons. I'm Quinn and this is Creedy."

"Nice to meet you," Creedy said with a thick Scottish accent. "What's your name?"

"Meghan. Meghan Burke."

"I've bandaged the gash on your arm," Quinn continued. "You have a small fever that should go away in a few days. You also have a dislocated knee. I'll have to push it back into place."

Meghan nodded. "Just do it."

Quinn moved down to her left knee. "You might want to hold Creedy's hand. This isn't gonna feel good." Creedy took hold of her hand and Quinn placed his hands on her knee. "One…two…three." He quickly pushed the dislocated knee back into place. Meghan groaned in pain and squeezed Creedy's hand tightly for a moment.

"Thanks," she breathed.

"Get some rest," Quinn told her. "You need it."

Meghan nodded and fell into a fitful sleep. When she awoke, a little boy who couldn't have been older than three was sitting cross-legged next to the bed. "Hey," she said softly.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Meghan Burke. Who are you?"

"Jackson."

"It's nice to meet you, Jackson."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm a bit sick right now."

"Jackson!" Quinn said from the entrance. "Leave her alone to sleep."

"He's fine," Meghan said, but the tiredness of her voice betrayed her words. Jackson bolted up and left the room.

"Sorry about that," Quinn apologized as he came next to her. "The kids love hanging out in here. I told them not to in order to let you sleep, but you know kids."

Meghan smiled. Quinn came over to her and felt her forehead.

"It looks like your fever is beginning to break. You should eat something." He left and then came back with a piece of bread and some grapes. He helped her sit up and fed her the food slowly so she didn't up getting sick. Once she had eaten enough, he replaced the cloth on her forehead and left her to rest once more.

* * *

After Meghan's fever had gone and she was able to walk again, Quinn went about finding her a more permanent place to stay since she couldn't stay in his room forever.

He returned to find her sitting on the spare bed, staring into space.

"Meghan?" he said sitting next to her. "You alright?"

After a pause, she said quietly, "Everyone I know is gone."

Quinn looked at her, understanding how she felt. "Where did you come from?"

"A few miles south of here. It was me and maybe a few dozen other people including my brothers and sister and my friends. We were just so hungry. We just needed something to eat. So some of us ventured out to see if we could find something, anything at all. But it found them. And then it found us. I was the only one to make it out alive. They're all gone."

Two huge fat tears dripped from her eyes to the floor, missing her cheeks almost completely. Quinn lightly put his arm around her and she began sobbing into his chest as the reality hit her that everyone she knew had been burned alive.

* * *

Meghan eventually moved into another bunk room with three other girls, Georgia, Lauren, and Katy. Meghan was to share a bed with Katy. It was a little awkward for Meghan, but Katy was used to sharing a bed with strangers as many girls had come and gone from their bunk room and the "newbies" usually were put with Katy.

"What was it like in Quinn's room?" Katy asked with a smile as they both lied down in the bed and prepared to go to sleep.

"Um…it was…roomy?"

"Come on, you gotta give me more than that! Did you guys share a bed?"

"No, he had a spare one that he leant me."

"Was it nice?"

"Well, I mean it can only look so good considering the circumstances. But it was pretty spacey so he can accommodate people like me."

Katy sighed. "You are the luckiest girl in this whole castle."

"I am?"

"You have no idea how many of us would kill to stay in Quinn's room. It's no secret that most of us have a crush on him. We would kill to be in your shoes."

Meghan frowned. "You want to have all your family and friends burned to death then walk for miles and miles on end with a massive cut and dislocated knee all while watching the sky every second and hoping a dragon isn't coming after you because you have no place to hide?"

Katy's eyes widened. "Oh, Meghan, I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

"It's okay. It's not your fault. And it's over now."

"My family was burned too. They were actually among the first to go when the first dragon was found."

"I'm sorry."

"It was a long time ago. And I've found family here, so it's alright."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Georgia and Lauren are like my sisters. There's this other woman around here named Meera who's like a mother to me. And a lot of the kids look up to me as a motherly figure towards them."

"I've only met Jackson."

Katy laughed. "He's a sweetheart. But he's very shy and I sometimes have trouble getting him to talk to the other kids."

"That makes two of us."

"Well, maybe you can do a better job with him than I have. Oh, and Meghan? No matter what anyone says, we're glad you're here."


	2. Meeting the Kids

The next day, Katy helped Meghan learn the ropes about how to go about things when it came to meals and what a usual day looked like. Nearly every night, Creedy and Quinn and maybe some other people would perform something to entertain all the children from a long and normally quite boring day.

They did old school classics like _Tom Sawyer,_ _Pocahontas_ , and _Beauty and the Beast_. It seemed like a good idea to her and she had to admit that she was excited to see what they had in mind for that night.

She was introduced to Jared, a young boy Quinn had apparently taken in a few years ago. As a result, Jared and Quinn were pretty close. Meghan liked how Quinn interacted with all the kids and the fact that he helped others even if he put himself at risk. Like her and Jared.

"How are you feeling?" Quinn asked her as they got their breakfast ration.

"Much better. And I'm starting to learn how things work here."

"So does that mean you're going to watch our show?"

"I guess so. What are you doing tonight?"

"The kids really like _The Lion King._ "

Meghan smiled. "I used to love that movie."

"Well, I hope we don't permanently ruin it for you."

The two of them laughed together. When Meghan looked over where a lot of people who had already gotten their rations were sitting, she noticed that quite a few girls were looking at her icily. Perhaps Katy was right about a lot of them having a crush on Quinn. And now they were all jealous of her. Perfect.

She abruptly stopped talking with him, which did not go unnoticed by him.

After breakfast, Katy took Meghan to where they took care of the younger kids. A lot of the older kids went to the makeshift school the adults tried to hold so they could at least get a little bit of education.

"Katy!" a chorus of young voices called out when the two women appeared.

"Hi, guys!" Katy said as some of them ran to her. She picked up one little girl and went to the middle of the group. "How are you all today?"

"We've missed you!" the girl she was holding cried.

"I've missed you all too! This is my good friend, Meghan Burke."

Meghan shyly waved to the young kids and they all smiled and greeted her politely. She spotted Jackson and smiled at him and as soon as he made eye contact with her, he ran up to her and hugged her legs. Katy raised her eyebrows at her, surprised at the boy's actions.

"Hi, Jackson," Meghan said as she knelt down to his level.

"Are you all better?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, I am."

"Did Mr. Quinn make you all better?"

"Yes, he did. Him and Creedy."

"They make everyone better."

Meghan smiled. "It's their job. And they're quite good at it."

For the next couple of hours, Jackson played with Meghan and got pretty creative with some of the games he came up with.

Towards the end of their time together, Meghan put him up on her knees and began bouncing him up and down in time with a little rhyme: "Trot, trot to Boston, trot, trot to Lynn. Better watch out or you might fall IN!" On "in", she opened up her knees and let him fall through them but caught him before he hit the floor. She looked up and saw Quinn watching her from a small distance away. Her face got hot as she looked away from his smiling face.

"You're fun!" Jackson told her.

"You are too."

Katy stood up and walked over to her. "Meghan, it's time to go."

"No!" Jackson exclaimed as he hugged her.

"Don't worry," Meghan said quickly. "I'll be back soon."

Meghan and Katy began walking away much to the chagrin of all the children.

Katy eyed Meghan. "Okay, what did you do?" she asked. "I haven't been able to get two words out of Jackson the whole time I've been going there, and then you have him acting just like a little kid should in a matter of hours."

"I don't know," Meghan admitted. "He was the one to find me. He came into Quinn's room while I was recovering."

"Jackson does love going to Quinn's room. Quinn seems to be the only one who can get him to talk. Until you came along, that is."

Katy and Meghan went to go get their dinner ration before Quinn and Creedy put on their show for the kids.

A few of the girls were still giving her icy glares, but it didn't bother her as much as it did at breakfast.

When they finished eating, Jackson ran up to Meghan and took her hand. "Come on, Meggy! We're gonna be late for Mr. Quinn and Mr. Creedy's show!"

Meghan threw a smile at Katy and then Jackson pulled her away to the little makeshift stage Quinn must've created.

Jackson plopped himself down on her lap and the two of them watched Quinn, Creedy, and some other people she didn't know reenact all of _The Lion King_ for everyone. It was comical to Meghan, but all of the kids loved it more than anything and some of them got really, really into the action.

When the show ended with Quinn/Simba accepting his place as king of Pride Rock, the two men announced that it was time for bed.

"Let's say our prayers," Quinn said. "What do we do when we wake?"

"Keep both eyes on the sky," the kids replied in unison.

"What do we do when we sleep?"

"Keep one eye on the sky."

"What do we do when we see them?"

"Dig hard, dig deep, run for shelter, and never look back."

"Time for bed."

The kids groaned and got up. Meghan decided to take Jackson back to where he was supposed to sleep and tuck him in for the night.

"Alright, you're going to get a good night's sleep and be all rested for tomorrow," she said as she wrapped the blanket around him. "All good?"

"Mm-hmm. Good night, Meggy."

"Good night, Jackson. I'll see you tomorrow."

Meghan returned to her bunk room with Katy. "He's really taken a shine to you, hasn't he?" Katy asked.

"It's nice. At my old home, we didn't have any kids."

"Well, I have to thank you for finally opening him up."


	3. Chemistry

When Meghan sat down to eat her breakfast ration, Quinn approached her and sat down across from her. She got nervous, especially because she didn't want those icy glares, but he didn't seem to notice or care. She liked his confidence and the fact that he didn't care what other people thought him.

"Did we ruin _The Lion King_ forever?"

Meghan laughed lightly. "No, but I'll always remember that interpretation whenever someone mentions the film from now on. What's on the queue for tonight's show?"

"We're doing Disney _Tarzan_."

"Oh, that was my favorite Disney movie. I've seen it more times than I can count. I know pretty much all the dialogue for it."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah!"

"Well…we're one girl short. Wanna be our Jane?"

Meghan nearly spit out her water. "What?"

"Why not? The kids seem to love you and if you know all the dialogue, we don't have to waste time teaching it to you."

"I'm not an actress…"

"Did you see us last night? Neither are me and Creedy. Don't worry, we improvise a lot. It's not hard. Besides, they're six years old and younger. It doesn't take much to entertain them."

"…Alright."

"Perfect. We start right after everyone gets their dinner."

"Okay, I guess I'll see you then."

Meghan watched him leave in shock. She certainly had not been expecting that one. She later met up with Katy and they began walking to spend time with the children again.

"What did Quinn talk to you about?" Katy asked.

"He, uh…asked me to help with the show tonight."

Katy stopped right in her tracks. "He what?"

"I can't believe it either."

"What show is it?"

" _Tarzan._ "

"And he wants you to be Jane? Oh, you are going to make so many girls jealous tonight!"

"Great," Meghan sighed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you nervous."

"I just didn't want to be on everyone's radar in that way."

"You'll be fine." Katy smirked. "I'm sure it's going to be Jackson's favorite night."

The two girls arrived where the children were and immediately were swarmed by all the kids.

"Meggy!"

Meghan watched Jackson bolt up to her and she scooped him up in her arms. "Hi!"

Their day went pretty much the same and at that point, everyone was amazed how much Jackson loved Meghan and clung to her because they only ever saw him do that with Quinn.

"Meggy, are you going to see Mr. Quinn and Mr. Creedy tonight?"

"Actually, I'm going to be _in_ the show tonight."

"You are?!"

Meghan nodded. "So you'll actually see me up there onstage."

Jackson clapped his hands and laughed. "I'm even more excited now!"

That night, Jackson pulled Meghan to the stage, and chose a nice seat. Then Meghan hopped up onstage with Quinn and Creedy.

"This is Meghan Burke," Quinn introduced. "Most of you know her. She's going to be helping us tonight."

All the younger ones cheered while those teenagers and some other older girls watching didn't look too happy.

Meghan stayed to the side while Creedy, Quinn, and a couple other guys reenacted the beginning of the film. Then it was time for her to come on.

"'Daddy?' the English woman says," she narrated. "What's all the hullabaloo about?"

"Mr. Clayton said not to move. He saw something," Creedy replied. Then he fell over. "Oh, I moved."

This elicited many laughs from the children in the audience. They continued the performance and Meghan had to improvise a lot because she had no idea what to do in order to adapt this movie for such a small stage.

When the time came for Tarzan and Jane's meeting, Creedy came onstage acting like a baboon and it took everything Meghan had to not burst out laughing. Then Quinn picked her up bridal style and carried her to the other end of the stage. Together, they did all the dialogue for the famous meeting between them. When Quinn put his hand on hers at the part where Tarzan sees that they are similar, the chemistry forming between them was overwhelming. Meghan forced herself to snap out of it and continue on with the show.

At the end, when Jane decides to stay with Tarzan, Meghan ran up to Quinn and hugged him to which they both fell over. Meghan knew she was supposed to kiss him, but she also knew that that was certainly not going to happen.

Quinn sensed her uneasiness so he took his cloak and covered up their faces as they pretended to kiss behind it. A chorus of "Ewwws" rang out from the audience which made the both of them laugh behind Quinn's cloak. Then the lights went off and the show ended.

"Let's hear it for Meghan!" Quinn praised. Meghan did a small curtsy and the kids began cheering even louder. The older girls did not.

Quinn made everyone say their "prayers" and then sent them to go to bed.

Jackson ran and jumped on Meghan. "You were my favorite, Meggy! You were so good!"

"Thanks! Can I tell you a secret?"

Jackson nodded his head vigorously.

"I thought I was going to faint because I was so nervous!"

"Don't be nervous! You were great! Are you and Mr. Quinn in love?"

"No!" Meghan said quickly. "No, we were just acting for you guys."

"Okay."

Meghan tucked him in and bumped into Katy on her way out. "Alright, spill," she demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Meghan asked.

"That wasn't all acting you were doing with Quinn tonight."

"Of course it was."

"Not from what I saw. You guys were having major chemistry out there."

Meghan began blushing furiously.

"See? You're as red as an apple. Do you have feelings for him?"

"Well, he saved my life. Isn't it only natural that I feel a little something towards him? I mean, all the girls here do, don't they?"

"Yes. But this was different. Did something happen between you two that you never told me?"

"Well…he fixed my knee and bandaged me up and took care of my fever."

"Anything else?"

Meghan paused. "When I was all better, the reality hit me that I was alone. So naturally, I began crying for the ones I lost, and…Quinn may have held me while I cried."

Katy laughed. "Meghan, that's so cute! Listen, I saw how you were looking at Quinn tonight. You definitely feel something towards him."

"I don't know, Katy. Maybe I do, but there's no way he has feelings for me."

"No, you don't understand. Quinn was looking back at you the same way."


	4. Jackson's Sick

When Meghan didn't see Jackson all day, she soon got news that the poor boy was sick in bed with a nasty fever. He had been put in the "sick bed" so no one else he bunked with caught the illness. Quinn went to him with some cloths and water. When he came back out, he looked at Meghan. "He's asking for you."

Meghan slowly went into the room and kneeled down by Jackson's bedside. "Hey, buddy," she said softly.

"Meggy, I don't feel good."

"I know. Don't worry, you'll feel better in a few days."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Meghan stayed by his side for hours on end so he wouldn't be alone. She told him a few stories, mostly old Disney movies she remembered, and only left when he was asleep.

When she quietly stepped away from his bunk, she ended up running into Quinn.

"He really likes you," Quinn told her.

"I know. I like him too."

"You handle him well. We've been trying to get him to talk for a really long time. What makes you so different?"

Meghan just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Woman's touch," she guessed.

* * *

Meghan was awoken in the middle of the night by Katy vigorously shaking her. "Meghan!"

"Hmm?" Meghan moaned groggily.

"Come quick! It's Jackson!"

At the sound of the boy's name, Meghan rushed to the "sick bed" as fast as she could. "What's wrong?" she asked Quinn and Creedy frantically.

"He's not breathing," Quinn answered quickly.

Meghan went next to the boy and felt no air coming from him. When she felt his forehead, he was burning up. "Move," she ordered. Everyone gave her some space. Meghan began doing chest compressions and then gave him two breaths. She repeated this process four times before Jackson finally gasped and took some deep breaths though he remained unconscious. Meghan sighed and leaned back a little. "Keep him cooled down."

Quinn took some wet cloths and laid them all over the boy's body. Creedy and Katy eventually left to get some sleep, but Quinn and Meghan stayed back with Jackson. Meghan ran her fingers through his sweaty hair and replaced the cloths when needed.

"Nice job using CPR," Quinn said to her.

"It was the only thing I could think of. I guess his body was just too overheated and his little immune system isn't ready to battle this kind of thing just yet. He's not exactly completely well-nourished either. None of us are."

"I know. But there's nothing we can do about that."

"Meggy?" Jackson said weakly as he opened his eyes. "I hurt."

"I know, sweetheart. Just hold on. It'll go away soon." Jackson closed his eyes and drifted back into sleep. "Poor thing," Meghan said. "I know what it's like to feel like this."

"We should leave him to sleep," Quinn told her quietly.

Meghan nodded and the both of them slowly tip-toed away from his bed.

"Get some sleep," Quinn said. "You can check on him in the morning."

"Alright. Good night, Quinn."

"Night, Meghan."

* * *

When Meghan awoke, she quickly got hers and Jackson's breakfast ration and brought it to the sick boy.

"Hey, Jackson," she said as she walked up to his bed. "How are you feeling today?"

"Better."

"That's good. I brought you your breakfast. You need to eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

"I know, but you need to eat just a little bit or you'll just get sicker."

"Okay."

Meghan slowly fed him his breakfast and he managed to keep it all down. Over the course of the next few days, Jackson was finally well enough to go back to his own bunk.

"Guess what, Jackson?" Meghan said as she tucked him into his own bed. "Now that you're all better, we can go see Quinn and Creedy's show together tomorrow!"

"Yay!" he cheered. "What are they doing this time?"

"It's a surprise!"

"But I wanna know now!"

"I know you do, but you'll just have to wait until tomorrow."

"Aw!"

"It'll be here faster than you know it!"

Unfortunately, for three-year-olds, there's no such thing as fast when they are waiting for something. Jackson was antsy the entire time Meghan played with him and kept trying to get her to tell him what the show was, but she refused to relent.

As soon as the show finally started much to Jackson's pleasure, he sat in Meghan's lap and watched the acting intently.

Meghan watched in delight as Quinn and Creedy reenacted an old favorite for the kids, a scene from the old movie _Star Wars_.

"'Join me,' the black knight says. 'Then we can end this conflict forever'," Quinn narrated.

"Never!" Creedy said as they fought with painted wooden sticks. "'I'll never join you!' the white knight says. 'You killed my father!'"

Quinn slowly moved the stick across Creedy's wrist and Creedy tucked his hand inside his jack sleeve to make it look like it had been cut off.

"Creedy!" one of the girls exclaimed.

Creedy quickly showed them they he still had his hand to reassure the kids.

"The black knight stares through the holes in his shiny mask, and he speaks words that burn into our hero's heart forever." He imitated Darth Vader's deep breathing, then said, "'I am your father.'"

All of the kids gasped loudly as the lights went off meaning the show had ended. Meghan gave a small smile at their surprise. They all applauded as Quinn and Creedy took a bow.

"Did you make that up, Mr. Quinn?" one boy asked.

"Course I did!" Quinn replied. Meghan smiled again, knowing full well that was a complete lie.

"Alright, kids," Creedy said. "Time for bed."

The kids started groaning and requesting for another show. "Tomorrow!" Quinn shouted over them. "Prayers first!" He knelt down and folded his hands together. "What do we do when we wake?"

"Keep both eyes on the sky," the kids replied in unison.

"What do we do when we sleep?"

"Keep one eye on the sky."

"What do we do when we see them?" Creedy asked.

"Dig hard, dig deep, run for shelter, and never look back."

"Well done," Quinn said. "Bedtime."

The kids began groaning again, but eventually they all got up and went to their respective sleeping places.

Not too long into their sleep, the sickening sound of the alarm started blaring. Everyone immediately got up as fast as they could. Meghan helped everyone get the kids to safety amidst the panic.

"Meggy!" Jackson ran to her, and she took him up in her arms and held him close to her while attempting to get the rest of the kids.

She was at the door getting everyone inside when someone called Quinn's name. He quickly bounded up the steps.

"In the field," the woman said almost shamefully. Quinn started running and Meghan followed with Jackson still in her arms, his head pressed into her neck to hide himself from the scary sight around him.

"Quinn!" she called. "Be careful."

He quickly nodded and ran off once more to get to the field. Meghan went back to their hideout and sat with Jackson.

"It's okay," she said to him. "I promise that I will protect you. I won't let anything happen to you."

Meghan gently rocked him back and forth until Quinn, Creedy, and Jared came back with Eddie and the rest of those who had gone harvesting against Quinn's wishes. Two men were missing and it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened to them.

Jackson had fallen asleep in her arms so she quietly took him back to his bunk and gently placed him on it.

She was about to head back to her own bunk when she passed by Quinn and saw he was sitting alone.

"Hey," she said quietly as she walked up to him. He didn't respond. "What happened out there?"

Quinn didn't have time to respond before Creedy came to join them. In his hand he carried a couple glasses full of some kind of clear liquid.

"Creedy's one-and-only black label," he said as he set the glasses down. "Aged two weeks in a steel barrel. Now, the secret's swallowing fast. That way it just burns your stomach and not your throat. Go on. Sip it and weep."

Quinn looked at Eddie as he walked inside. "Poor guy," he said quietly.

"Huh? Who? Eddie?"

"A father's not meant to bury his kids. It's supposed to be the other way around."

"Yeah, well, he wouldn't have to if he'd just listened, would he?"

"No. No, Creedy. Maybe he was right. It's easy to square your shoulders and bear it when you don't have kids."

"Quinn," Meghan said. "You may not have kids of your own, but I've seen the way you act with the ones here. The way you treat them, they might as well be your kids. So don't think that this is any harder for Eddie than it would be for you if something happened to any of those kids here."

Quinn sighed heavily. "Maybe there won't be another harvest."

"No," Creedy said angrily. "Not now, with half the crop gone. Who knows how we're going to get through."

"You remember when we'd go out and bring in 80, 90 percent of it? Not anymore. Not in the last few years. They're hungrier, too. And some are getting sick now."

"Hey. You're not giving up on me, are you?"

"No. I just thought if we could hang on, somehow we'd make it through."

Meghan and Creedy made eye contact with each other. Neither of them had ever seen Quinn like this before.

It wasn't long before Quinn got up and left, leaving Meghan and Creedy alone.

"What happened out there?" Meghan asked.

Creedy sighed. "Some of our guys went to go harvest before the plants were ready. They were hungry, and I get that, but we all are, so they should've listened when Quinn told them not to. So during the dragon sighting, they all went out to our garden and they were attacked. Two of Eddie's sons were killed out there. Quinn, Jared, and I tried to help, but we couldn't save all of them."

"So that's why Quinn's so upset. He couldn't save them."

"Quinn wants to save as many people as he can. That's why we ran out to get you when we saw you approaching the castle. So when he doesn't save someone, he beats himself up about it."

"He can't save everyone. And if this Eddie guy had just listened to Quinn and toughed out the hunger, his sons would still be alive."

"That's what I was trying to tell him."

Meghan excused herself and headed back to her bunk room. She ended up passing Quinn's room and saw him staring intently at nothing.

"Still upset about tonight?" she asked as she walked in. She passed by an open magazine article about a 12-year-old boy surviving an inferno and put together that it was Quinn. Her eyes skimmed a line that said his mother had been among the deceased. She sat down next to him. "It's not your fault, Quinn. Okay? If it wasn't for you, none of us, especially me, would be here right now."

"But this isn't living. It's surviving, and there's a difference."

"I get that. But what else are we supposed to do? We'll die if we set foot outside for too long. And it's not like it's completely terrible in here. We have your wonderful little shows, some of the kids are getting at least a little education, the younger ones have someone to look out for them. It's not a complete loss."

"What about the food? Jackson nearly died because there wasn't enough."

"But he's alive now. He's fine. We'll just have to make do like we have been."

"How much longer can all of these people take this?"


	5. Killing a Dragon

The next day, the alarms started going off again in a different way. All the male adults and a few teenagers grabbed rifles and headed out to the wall of the castle to see what was going on.

Meghan and Katy stayed behind and distracted the younger kids by telling them a few fairy tales to keep them calm.

Suddenly, they heard commotion outside.

"Stay with them," Meghan said to Katy. She got up and went out where she saw a ton of strangers she had never seen before walking into the castle. "Hey, Creedy!" she called to the man as he passed by her. "What is going on? Who are these people?"

"Why don't you ask Quinn?" Creedy answered with thick annoyance in his tone.

"What did he do?"

"He let a bunch of Americans who claim to be dragon killers into the place."

"Dragon killers? Are you serious?"

"Who knows if they're actually telling the truth? For now, we need to get all of the kids into the shelter. Quinn apparently trusted them enough to let them in the castle, but not enough for everyone to keep living the way we have. So we have to keep the kids safe. You and Katy will need a rifle in your bunk room."

Meghan was speechless at all she had just heard. All she could do was nod and head back to the kids.

"Katy," she said as she came into the room. She quietly whispered all that Creedy had told her out of earshot of everyone else in the room.

"Okay, everyone," Katy announced to the children. "Mr. Quinn has asked you all to stay in the shelter for tonight."

The kids began panicking and running around the place.

"Calm down!" Katy screamed. "No one's in danger. There hasn't been a dragon sighting. He just wants you all in close quarters for right now so he can keep an eye on you. That's it. So gather up what you want and head on down with me. The older ones will be there with you soon. Let's go."

Together, Meghan and Katy brought all the children down to where they went for shelter when a dragon was sighted. Eventually, enough adults came down so Meghan and Katy could head back up.

Meghan ended up running into a blonde woman.

"Sorry," the woman said shortly. "Didn't see you there. I'm Alex."

"I'm Meghan, and this is my friend, Katy."

"Pleasure. You know where I can get some whetstone?"

"You'll have to ask Quinn. He would know. He's probably in the kitchen area right now. It's right around the corner over there."

Alex nodded and went off in that direction. Meghan and Katy looked at each other.

"Well…I guess I've dealt with worse," Katy remarked.

Meghan scoffed. "Really?"

"There was this one girl I bunked with who complained all the time about being hungry and not having a mirror to look at herself."

"That's pretty bad."

"I had to listen to her rant for at least 45 minutes as I tried to fall asleep."

"I guess the bar wasn't set too high when I got put there."

"Are you kidding? You're the best girl I've ever bunked with!"

"I'm honored!"

The two girls laughed lightly and went to go get their dinner ration. As they ate, Meghan noticed that Quinn was nowhere in sight. Creedy soon came and joined them.

"Hey, Creedy," Katy said.

"Where's Quinn?" Meghan asked.

"He's dealing with our new friends. Make sure you get a rifle and keep it on hand in your bunk."

"Got it."

"You guys wanna know a secret?" Creedy said drawing them in close and lowering his voice. Both girls nodded eagerly. "Quinn's got his eye on someone."

"Really?" Katy asked.

"Yeah, he's been acting so much different lately. Like he hasn't got the weight of the world on his shoulders."

"I don't think it takes much to guess who it is…"

Katy and Creedy looked over at Meghan. "What, me?" she said astounded.

"No," Katy said. "The other person Quinn can't keep his eyes off of. Oh, wait, there isn't another person like that. Which I'm sure all the other girls are happy about."

Meghan began blushing. "Don't you think he'd be more interested in that Alex girl? She's a fighter like he is."

"She's also commandeering and looks like she has absolutely no idea how to have any kind of fun at all. I haven't seen someone so stiff in years."

"I think Creedy is just imagining things."

"He's been my best friend since we were both 14," Creedy countered. "I know when he's acting different. And right now, he couldn't be acting more different."

"Maybe he's acting different because a bunch of American 'dragon killers' are running around our home."

"He's been acting different since the night we put on _Tarzan_."

"Hah!" Katy exclaimed. "Called it! I told you you guys were having chemistry!"

"I think you're both just seeing things."

"Not a chance."

A bald man with a huge beard came over to them. "Name's Denton Van Zan," he said as he held his hand out. Neither Katy nor Meghan made a move to return the gesture. "Nice to meet you."

The alarms started going off, so they three were forced to abandon what little food they had.

"Creedy," Van Zan said. "We need your help. We're gonna kill ourselves a dragon."

"Good luck," Katy said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't need it," Van Zan replied.

Katy looked at him then at Meghan. "Overconfident American," she muttered.

The two girls ran to where the kids were to make sure they were all there and were safe. "Meggy!" Jackson said as he ran up to Meghan. "I'm scared."

"I know, but you're gonna be okay. I told you I wasn't going to let anything happen to you."

The loud roar of a dragon pierced the air above them making all the kids shriek in fear.

"Katy," Meghan said. "Take him."

She handed Jackson over to her and took off. "Where are you going?" Katy called.

"They need help!"

"Meggy!" Jackson yelled as tears started running down his face.

Katy looked after her friend. "Sarah!" she called. An older woman came over to her. "Watch over all of them!" Katy handed Jackson over to her and took off up the stairs after Meghan.

Meghan ran to the entrance of the castle and looked up to where a man was riding on a motorcycle up the hill. He was carrying some kind of high-tech tool and it looked like it carried great importance.

Suddenly, the dragon appeared seemingly out of nowhere and the man on the motorcycle was burned to death in a matter of seconds.

Meghan had no idea what that tool was, but she knew it had to be crucial that it got to the top of that hill for whatever reason. After looking up at the sky to make sure the coast was clear, she took off in the direction of the hill and ran as fast as her legs would carry her while still keeping her eyes on the sky.

Katy ran up to the entrance and saw Meghan running out in the open. "Meghan!" she screamed loudly.

Meghan could not hear Katy's screams as she kept running. Before long, she heard the sound of hoofbeats behind her. When she turned around, Quinn was galloping up to her on his horse. "Give me your hand!" he yelled.

Barely even slowing down, he grabbed Meghan's hand and pulled her up behind him onto the horse. She tightly held on to his waist as they went up to the hill.

When they got to the top, they both dismounted and scoured the land for the tool the man on the motorcycle had.

"Quinn!" Meghan called when she found it. Together, they turned the machine on and stuck it into the ground.

"What were you thinking?" Quinn yelled at Meghan.

She had no time to answer because they both heard, "Piscatella." They looked around and saw the man's walkie-talkie which was a bit burned, but evidently still worked. "Piscatella, do you read me?"

"Van Zan!" Quinn said into the walkie-talkie.

"Who is this?"

"Quinn. Meghan's with me."

"Quinn, where's Piscatella?"

Quinn and Meghan looked at each other. "He's gone," Quinn finally answered.

"Are you ready to ride 'cause you got about thirty seconds before that thing is on top of you guys." Both of them looked up to the sky in a panic. "You bring her to me. You're the bait, guys. 1600 pounds of dragon flesh. Ride her right down my throat. Do you read me? Ride the north road to the quarry. Bring her to me, guys."

"We're coming."

Meghan and Quinn ran back to the horse and mounted on it once more. Then they took off as fast as they could back to the castle.

"Come on!" Quinn screamed, urging the horse on.

Meghan kept turning around and looking for the dragon. Finally…there it was. "Quinn!" she screamed. He urged the horse on even faster. When they made it over the hill, Quinn saw a spear headed straight for them.

"Duck!" he yelled to Meghan. They both did so and the spear nailed the dragon and it went crashing to the ground. Dead.

Meghan and Quinn galloped up next to the beast. She had never seen a dead dragon before and it was a miraculous sight. At least she now knew the American team hadn't been bluffing about being able to kill them.

That night, the biggest celebration to ever happen at the castle in Northumberland took place. Lights were turned on, music was played, and drinks went around for all.

A ton of people congratulated Meghan for helping out the Americans to kill the dragon. The only people who didn't were the girls who knew that she had worked together with Quinn and were still jealous about her relationship with him.

"Meggy!" Jackson squealed when he saw the girl. She knelt down and scooped him up in her arms.

"Hey, Jackson!"

"You're a hero, Meggy!"

"Thanks, buddy."

"You and Mr. Quinn are amazing!"

"It wasn't just us. Our visitors did most of the work. We just…gave them a helping hand."

Quinn came up to her. "Good work out there."

"Thanks. You too. Um, have you seen Katy?"

"Yeah, she was over there earlier." He pointed towards the kitchen area and she saw Katy with her arms folded across her chest, looking pretty ticked off.

"Jackson, go with Quinn. I'm going to go talk to Katy." She handed Jackson over to Quinn and walked over to where Katy was. "Hey!" she said.

Katy looked away from her.

"Katy, what's wrong?"

"You helped those…Americans. Why?"

Meghan scoffed. "Americans or not, they needed our help. And because we helped them, a dragon is dead."

"Yeah, so what? Another will take its place. You've done nothing but helped those stupid Americans."

"Katy…"

Meghan didn't get to finish because she was drowned out by all the cheering from everyone as Van Zan came into the room.

"Envy the country that has heroes, huh?!" he yelled. The cheering got even louder. "I say pity the country that needs 'em." At that, everyone immediately silenced. "What are you celebrating?" Van Zan asked angrily. "One dragon down, three men dead? Oh, yeah. At that rate, we might just be getting somewhere in about 320 years. Is that what you want? You want a little accommodation? Unh-unh. These beasts live on ash. They feed on death. There's no middle ground. Not for them, not for us. And sure not for my men who died out there today.  
But you go ahead. Have your little…soiree. Personally, you disgust me." He began to walk away with his American posse. "We bury our dead at dawn."

Meghan looked at Quinn and saw him shake his head. She quickly went after Van Zan. "Hey!" she called to him. "Van Zan!"

He turned around to face her and she realized that he was a lot more intimidating up close, but she held her ground.

"Give us a little credit, will you?" she said angrily. "No one here has ever seen a dead dragon before and it's exciting to us. I get that you lost three of your guys, and I'm sorry. But that doesn't mean that you have to make everyone miserable with you. Just let us have our moment because this is the first ray of hope we've seen since these dragons were let loose."

Van Zan looked at her. "It's Meghan, isn't it?" Meghan nodded. "You were with Quinn out there today. You helped him get that third vertical up. I appreciate that."

That was all he said before he walked away again.

Later, when Meghan was about to head to the kitchen to get the dinner ration she had skipped previously, she saw Jackson talking to Van Zan. Van Zan was showing the boy the dragon tooth he wore around his neck.

"Got this from the first dragon I ever killed," Van Zan said.

"Jackson!" Meghan called. "Come here." She pulled Jackson into her arms. "Go get ready for bed. I'll tuck you in a bit." Jackson ran off and she went up to Van Zan. "I don't want you talking to him," she said firmly.

"He came up and talked to me first," Van Zan countered.

"I don't care. Don't. Talk. To him. Just because I helped you guys does _not_ mean that I trust you. And I don't want that boy getting hurt. Got it? Good."

Meghan whipped around and went down to where the kids were now sleeping.

"Meggy," Jackson said as she tucked him in. "Why couldn't I talk to that man?"

"He's still a stranger to us, Jackson. I just want to keep you safe."

"Okay. But Meggy? I want a dragon tooth like that man has got. It'll make me look brave."

"You, sir, are brave enough without a dragon tooth. But, I'll see if I can get one for you one of these days. Get some sleep now."

"Meggy? I love you."

Meghan stopped in her tracks. It had been so long since anyone had said that to her. She leaned over him and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "I love you too, Jackson."

She left the boy to his dreams and went to go get her dinner ration. She saw that Quinn was in the room getting a drink.

"Hey," she said awkwardly. "I was just…getting some food. I never ate my dinner."

Quinn went about getting a plate ready for her. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Meghan leaned against the counter and began eating her food standing up.

"Meghan, what were thinking today? Why on earth did you just run out into the open?"

"I saw that man get burned to death and I assumed that whatever he was doing was important so I wanted to go help."

"You're just lucky that dragon wasn't near you at the time."

Meghan sighed. "Looks like no one is happy with my decision today. Katy's barely talking to me and I have a feeling it's about that. I don't know why everyone's so upset. I was just trying to help out the Americans with whatever it was they were doing. It's okay if a guy helps out, but as soon as a girl gets involved, everyone panics. Well, if Alex can help, then so can I!"

Meghan slammed her empty plate on the counter and left the kitchen to go back to her bunk. On the way she ran into Katy, but Katy just looked at her coldly and kept walking.

"Katy, what's your problem?" Meghan demanded.

"I already told you," she answered shortly.

"There's more to it than just me helping the Americans, isn't there?"

"No."

"Katy, please!" Meghan begged as they stopped walking. "I can't lose you as a friend."

Katy finally turned to face her. "You could've been killed," she said quietly.

"But I wasn't. I'm fine."

"What would Jackson do without you? What am I supposed to do without you?"

"Katy…"

"No, listen, I have never gotten so close to someone the entire time I've been here. Not even Georgia or Lauren. Especially in such a short time. I can't lose you."

"You won't lose me."

"You don't know that."

"Katy, if I can walk for miles on end with a dislocated knee and a huge gash on my arm and still not get killed by a dragon, I think I'll be fine."

Katy laughed lightly and the two girls shared a tight hug.


	6. Dragon Attack

Early in the morning after Katy and Meghan had gotten their breakfast ration, they went outside to find a lot of people congregating in front of Van Zan. They started listening to him and neither liked where the conversation was going.

"There's nothing magical about 'em!" Van Zan barked. "They're made up of a collection of organs. They have a mind, a heart, and a liver. You take out one of these, you bring down the beast!"

Some men, including Creedy, stepped forward to help kill the dragons.

"Is that it?" Van Zan scoffed. "Four of you?"

Creedy turned around and noticed that Eddie had stepped forward. "Eddie," he said in disbelief. "Eddie, what are you doing? You got kids, man."

"That's why I'm going, Creedy," Eddie replied. "That's why."

"The volunteer section of this campaign's now over," Van Zan said. "It's time for the draft. Tito, Mead, get the six strongest men they have and load 'em up. Dig your own holes. Die in 'em." He stepped down from his high perch and began to pack everything he needed.

"Oy! I said no!"

Meghan turned around to find Quinn running towards Van Zan.

"No, Quinn!" Creedy shouted.

Quinn rammed Van Zan in the jaw and the two started tackling each other, each trying to get the upper hand. It didn't take long for Van Zan to throw endless punches at Quinn and get him on the ground. Both men were dripping bright red blood by the time some men came and pried them apart.

"I'll kill ya!" Quinn screamed over and over again. "I'll kill ya! He's gonna bring it back here!"

"Quinn!" Meghan cried running over to him as he tried to struggle out of the grasps of the men holding him. She said nothing, but just gently put her hands on his shoulders. Almost instantly, he began to calm down and the men released him.

Van Zan took off while Quinn sat down on a rock with Meghan next to him. Alex walked over to them.

"He would have killed you," she said. "He doesn't feel things. That's the only way  
he can do what he does. Here." She handed him a bottle. "Take this. Iodine. Hurts a ton, but it kills anything." She rubbed a cut on his lip softly, and Meghan couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy sweep through her. Alex was too close to him for comfort. "Good luck, Quinn."

Meghan and Quinn headed back into the castle to bandage him up. They went to the water basin and Meghan grabbed a couple of bandages. Quinn whipped his shirt off in order to get to the cuts easier. There was a huge gash on his forearm that looked pretty painful. Meghan turned a very bright red when she saw his toned body, but tried to hide it. She took a deep breath and picked up the bottle.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Do it," Quinn replied.

Meghan opened the bottle and poured its contents on the wound. Quinn tensed up and winced hard, but remained quiet. "I'm sorry," she said softly. She quickly put a bandage over top of the gash. The two of them ended up meeting eyes, and Meghan nervously began biting her lip. His eyes were a beautiful green color. She hadn't noticed that before, even when they did _Tarzan_ together. Likewise, Quinn saw that her eyes were a gorgeous blue, the color of the ocean.

They were forced out of their daze when Jared walked down the stairs.

"You too busy to say goodbye?" Quinn asked.

"You're not my father," Jared answered sharply. "You can't stop me, Quinn. I can be an archangel. Gideon says he'll teach me."

"17 seconds. Did he tell you that's how long they live?"

"Not the good ones. Gideon's an 8-year veteran. At least they're still killing them."

"A couple of years, Jared. That's all I'm asking for. Give me that. After that, you'll be old enough, and you can lead 'em. That's what I want. Out of everyone, you're the best."

"It's a waste of time, Quinn. All of it."

"You're right. I'm not your father. I can't…lock you in. I can't make you stay. And if you think you're man enough to speak like that, then I guess you're man enough to go. Goodbye, Jared. You look after yourself."

Jared took off up the steps leaving Quinn and Meghan alone. Meghan was still blushing at his shirtless-ness though she was a bit upset about Jared's departure.

"I should, uh, go check on the kids," she stuttered.

"Yeah," Quinn mumbled. "You…go do that."

Meghan headed up trying to get the butterflies out of her stomach.

She ran into Katy on the way to the shelter where all the kids were. "You were just with Quinn, weren't you?" she asked with a smirk.

"Why?"

"Because I've never seen your face so red."

"I was just…helping him with his cut that he got from Van Zan. And, um, he may have shirtless."

Katy's mouth dropped open. "You got to see Quinn shirtless? As if these girls weren't jealous enough of you already."

Meghan couldn't help but laugh at her comment.

"Jackson's been looking for you," Katy continued.

Meghan headed into the shelter and almost immediately, Jackson ran up to her and jumped into her arms. "Where have you been, Meggy?"

"Quinn wasn't feeling good, so this time, I helped him."

"Are you and Mr. Quinn in love?"

"Jackson, you've already asked me that, and I told you we're not in love."

"Meggy? Why is your face getting red?"

Meghan laughed awkwardly. "Because…because it's hot in here."

"I think you like Mr. Quinn."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do! I'm going to tell him!"

"You are most certainly not! And if you do, you know what's gonna happen?"

"What?"

"You're going to get a visit from the Tickle-Monster!" Meghan began chasing him around the room and when she caught him, she began tickling him as he cried out for mercy. She didn't relent until he promised to not tell Quinn that she liked him.

Katy, Meghan, and other girls stayed with all the kids to comfort them since they were all still a bit shaken up at the cause for their new sleeping arrangements.

Towards nighttime when the sky had turned to a navy blue, Meghan heard a sound that sent a chill up her spine. When she looked over at Katy, she knew she had heard it too. A dragon was approaching the castle.

And not just any dragon. Meghan realized that when Quinn attacked Van Zan earlier, it was because Van Zan was going after one of the big dragons. Meghan knew that every time someone tried to do that, it killed everyone then backtracked to where the group the people came from lived and killed them all as well. Quinn had been right. Van Zan had brought the dragon back to the castle.

They were in serious trouble.

Suddenly, fire filled the castle in several locations and the place quickly began to crumble. The kids began screaming and running around in a panic. All of the older girls tried to round them up to get them down to their safe haven below the ground where they would be safe from the dragon.

"Meggy!" Jackson said clinging to her. "I'm scared!"

"I know," Meghan answered as she picked him up and pressed him close to her chest. "I am too."

Creedy showed up and began barking orders to get to the shelter below. He then ran up some stairs to get some other kids who were too afraid to come by themselves. Nearly everyone was down in the shelter, but Meghan hung back to wait for Creedy and was pleased to find out that Jared had stayed and was helping them all.

"Jared!" Quinn screamed as he ran into the castle. "Creedy!"

"Quinn!" Jared and Meghan exclaimed at the same time. Quinn looked at them, fear etched in all three pairs of eyes.

Creedy came running to join them carrying a little girl in his arms.

"Have you got them all?" Quinn asked him.

"Creedy, help!" a young boy shouted, answering Quinn's question for Creedy.

"I'll get him!" Quinn shouted as he bounded up the stairs. "You take them downstairs! Hurry up! That big boy won't stop until he's killed us all!"

Creedy ran downstairs, but Meghan and Jared hung back to make sure Quinn was alright. He came downstairs with a little boy and girl on each shoulder. Jared took the boy and they all started running to get downstairs.

"I've got all the kids!" Creedy said to Quinn.

Everyone scooted back as much as possible to allow as much room as they could and get away from the flames. Meghan heard the sound of the dragon roar above them. Jackson clung onto her tighter and Meghan did the same.

Quinn turned on the sprinklers to try to douse the fires that were tearing the castle apart. Everyone got drenched very fast from the falling water, but it felt good because all of them were burning up.

Meghan set Jackson down as her arms were tired from holding him up, but she still clung onto him tightly.

"Where is everyone?!" Quinn screamed to Creedy.

"Don't you go up there, Quinn!" Creedy yelled back.

"There's 65 people up there, Creedy! I'm going!"

Quinn tried to go back up, but Creedy grabbed him. "Don't you dare leave! It's too dangerous! I'll clean it up!"

Creedy left and Quinn tossed him a fire extinguisher. Meghan watched him go and she felt Jackson turn around to look at the man departing.

A huge blast of fire suddenly flooded all the passages within the castle walls.

"Mr. Creedy!" Jackson cried. He wrenched himself out of Meghan's arms and ran to the door.

"JACKSON!" Meghan screamed at the top of her lungs. Jackson ran into Creedy's arms. The last thing Meghan saw of either of them was the fire from the dragon coming towards them as Creedy tightly held onto Jackson. The door slammed shut, locking everyone inside…and Jackson and Creedy outside where the fire had undoubtedly consumed them.

Quinn ran up to the door, but fell back when it slammed on him. Meghan got to the door second and began banging on it with all her might.

"NO!" she screamed. "NO! JACKSON! NO!"

Quinn came next to her and banged on the door screaming Creedy's name while Meghan began sobbing for Jackson.

Every single person in the room, especially all of the children, were screaming and crying over the loss of Creedy and Jackson.

Meghan couldn't breathe. She sank down against the door, her body numb.

Quinn walked over to them and said quietly, "What do we do when we wake?"

"Keep both eyes on the sky," the kids replied tearfully with one young voice missing.

"What do we do…what do we…" Quinn couldn't finish as he began crying.

"What do we do when we sleep?" one woman finished for him.

"Keep one eye on the sky."

"What do we do when we see him?"

"Dig hard, dig deep, run for shelter, and never look back."

Not a single eye was dry in the crumbled remains of the castle.


	7. Killing the Killer

Meghan had not moved an inch from her position against the door. She was still in shock and couldn't make any part of her body move.

"Meghan?" Quinn said softly sitting down next to her.

"I told him I wouldn't let anything happen to him," she said without looking at him. "I told him I would protect him. I promised him. I promised I would protect him."

Meghan's body began to shake with sobs, so Quinn put his arm around her and allowed her to sob into his chest just like she had when she had first come to the castle. He rubbed his hand up and down her arm in a comforting manner. He realized that he was not nearly as uncomfortable with this as the first time.

Katy came and sat next to them and hugged Meghan while she continued to cry in Quinn's arms.

Eventually, Meghan fell asleep in Quinn's embrace with Katy next to her. Quinn stayed awake to keep watch and every now and again, he could feel tears drip down his cheeks as he thought about Creedy and Jackson.

He looked over at Meghan. Tear streaks rested on her cheeks that would no doubt be there for quite some time. Even in unconsciousness, her face looked pained. The poor girl had already been through so much…

Quiet noises made Quinn turn his head to the door. Then there was a light bang.

"Jared," Quinn said firmly. The noises and Quinn's movement made Meghan and Katy wake up along with the rest of the inhabitants and they all looked over as Quinn and Jared went to the door.

Quinn began banging on the door as hard as he could. "We're alive! We're in here!" He and Jared pushed on the door in an attempt to get it to move.

"Back away!" a voice on the other side called.

The door got opened and Meghan saw that it was Alex and some other Americans who had come back to the castle. And then Van Zan showed his face and Meghan felt a rage build up inside her that she had never experienced before.

"You were right," Van Zan said to Quinn.

Meghan stood up and walked briskly over to the man before slapping his face. Hard. "Because of you, Jackson, that little boy you spoke to, is dead. And so is Creedy," she spat at him.

"Meghan," Quinn said softly, gently pushing her back next to him.

Everyone inside the shelter slowly exited and walked around the remains of what they used to call home. Meghan felt more tears spring to her eyes and held her head in her hands. Katy came next to her and the two of them walked out of the castle together.

Van Zan and Alex came up next to Quinn and tossed him some weapons as Quinn finished loading up a shotgun.

"I salvaged what I could from your armory," Van Zan said. "We got one rifle, two automatics, two crossbows, and explosive heads."

Quinn cocked his gun and if looks could kill, Van Zan would've died from the face Quinn gave him. Meghan saw Alex tense up a little bit before Quinn said, "You, me, and Alex. Down the coast in the chopper. Stay tight to the cliffs. The Thames will take us right into the heart of London. I know where he lives. Magic hour. You say that's when they're the weakest. We'll see."

Meghan stepped next to Quinn. "I'm coming with you," she said firmly.

"No, you're not. You're staying here with everyone else."

"No, I'm coming with you. I need to do this for Jackson. Please."

Quinn looked her in the eyes and knew exactly what she meant. He was doing this for Creedy and seeing as she had been closest to Jackson, she deserved some closure. "Alright," he finally conceded. "But you do as I say without hesitation."

"You're going home," Van Zan said to Quinn.

"Jared!"

"Yeah, Quinn?" Jared said as he brought Quinn's horse forth.

"You keep them safe."

Jared nodded and the four of them began to pack up. Katy ran up to Meghan. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "You told me I wouldn't lose you."

"You're not. The four of us are going to kill that thing. I have to do this, Katy. Please understand."

Katy sighed and grabbed Meghan into a very, very tight hug. "Please be careful."

"I will."

Meghan then set off with the others to go hunt down Jackson's killer. The four of them loaded into a chopper and to London they went to kill the male of the species.

When they got to the city, it looked absolutely awful. Aside from the dragons, there was no sign of life. Several dragons stood on top of the buildings and roared loudly.

"Well, this town's down to nothing," Quinn remarked.

"They must have heard us coming," Alex said.

"What's stopping them?"

"It's not us," Van Zan answered. "Either way, we gotta get in there."

"Come on, guys," Alex pleaded. "We're outnumbered hundreds to three."

"I know this city from the sky down, and I know it from the bottom up. If we can get in quiet, I can sneak us into some tunnels. That should get us close."

The dragons roared and hundreds of them took off into the air. It was perhaps one of the most frightening things Meghan had ever witnessed. Then one huge dragon, the one that killed Jackson, flew over the land and ate one of its own.

"Did he see us?" Alex asked. Quinn shook his head in response.

"They must be starving," Quinn said. "They're eating their own."

"Oh, we're dead."

"Look on the bright side. Now we've got him outnumbered 3 to 1."

"Now, you ready?" Van Zan asked the women. They both nodded their heads. Van Zan looked over at Quinn. "Quinn, you lead. We follow."

Quinn nodded and they all ran beneath the city of London. "There's an underground passage! Leads to the construction site! Down here!" He helped Meghan and Alex down a hole in the ground and Van Zan followed. The men lit flares so they could see ahead to make sure they were in the clear, then kept moving.

"Four tunnels meet at this shaft," Quinn explained. "Leads up to a square. There used to be buildings up there. If they're still around, could be good coverage."

"Yeah, if it goes to the street, that's what we take," Van Zan answered. "Alex, give me the sticks." Alex handed him some arrows and he began making explosives out of them. "Quinn, these are highly volatile heads. You fire them with your crossbow. Now, when you—" He was cut off by the roar of a dragon. "He knows we're here. Okay. How tall is that shaft?"

"150 feet," Quinn told him.

"All right. Here's the plan. When we get to street level, we gotta bring that bull to the ground, and I'm gonna take care of that. Now, one shot's gonna kill him, and it's gonna be with this. He only exposes his chest before he breathes fire. Now, these are magnesium-tip C-4 arrows, and they only fly about 50 feet. So, when you fire, you gotta be standing in the furnace. So do not hesitate. If you do, we die."

Alex looked about ready to have a panic attack and though Meghan was also nervous, she was more furious at the dragon for killing the little boy she had been so close to. That erased a lot of her fear.

"Ah, he's playing hide-and-seek," Van Zan whispered.

"More like cat and mouse," Quinn whispered back.

The four of them started climbing up the elevator and Meghan noticed Quinn kind of space out for a minute. That's when it hit her. The article she had seen in his room. This was the place where he was the only survivor. This is where his mother had been killed.

"Quinn!" Van Zan shouted, breaking him out of his reverie. "Use it!"

Meghan assumed he was talking about the rage and anger Quinn felt at that moment. It was certainly how Meghan was getting along. They continued climbing out of the shaft and they finally made it above ground.

"Oh, he's eating it up," Van Zan said. "I can't see a thing, Quinn. What am I looking at?"

"This is an enclosed square. It's about 100 meters across. There's a building right in the middle. That chimney looks down over the lot of it. What do you think?"

"I don't know yet." Van Zan looked at Alex behind him. "Hey…you scared?"

"No," Alex answered shakily.

"It was your idea to come to London."

"Yeah, I thought I'd be at 3,500 feet."

Meghan couldn't help but feel a little angry at that comment. Alex was only willing to help if she was in the air…where she could fly away from the dragons. How was she going to help if she was too scared to do anything on land where she couldn't just fly away?

"Yeah, I thought I'd have over 200 men right now. Life's got a funny way of turning out different, though, don't it?"

"Yeah…"

"See that railcar? It'll give us a better view. Move." They all ran quickly to the railcar before they were seen. "Drop your packs. Weapons only."

Quinn, Alex, and Meghan got all the weapons ready while Van Zan went to the top of the railcar and looked at their surroundings.

"Okay," he said when he came back down. "We're gonna have a window. Every ten to twelve seconds, he makes a turn, and we're gonna use it."

"How?" Quinn asked.

"We're gonna split up. We stay together, take a hit, and we're gone, so we gotta use every angle. Now, Quinn, you're gonna take that west wall. Don't lock and load till you get there. You got it?"

"Okay. What about you?"

"I got the north. Alex, I need you and Meghan to stay right here. Now, when Quinn and I make a move, it's gonna draw him off, and I don't think he can count. Now, he's gonna make  
another turn. When he does, I'm gonna tell you to go. One at a time, you're both gonna run to that east wall. Don't think about it."

Quinn took a sip from the whiskey bottle Van Zan was passing around to everyone. As soon as he took a sip, he spit it out. "It's water!" he exclaimed.

"Keep it. You're gonna need it." While Quinn gave some to Meghan, Van Zan continued, "We have paid a terrible price. And now we got a chance to make a difference. We will."

Meghan's heart plummeted at the sound of the dragon roaring. They watched as he released some fire and then flew up and turned.

"Now, that's our first window," Van Zan said. "Quinn…Move!"

The two men took off while the women stayed in the railcar. After a couple minutes, they were sure that the men had gotten to their respective places.

"Alex!" Van Zan screamed. "In about eight seconds, we're gonna have a window! Now, when I tell you to go, you run straight to the base of this chimney! Are you ready?! Go! Go!"

Alex paused for a second then took off, leaving Meghan alone in the railcar. She watched Alex run to the chimney as the dragon chased after her. It flew up the chimney to where Van Zan was and then there was an explosion of fire. But the dragon was still flying which meant that the arrow Van Zan had used did not work.

Meghan watched in horror as Van Zan leapt off the chimney brandishing his axe. The dragon flew up to him and ate him in one quick movement. Van Zan was dead.

Meghan could just barely see Alex limping along, evidently having injured herself in the run. She took off outside the railcar, making sure to watch the sky at all times, and grabbed Alex. Quinn reached them at the same time and he helped Meghan get Alex inside one of the burnt buildings.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she answered. "What are we gonna do?"

"I lost the explosives. We're gonna find them."

The dragon breathed fire where they were so Quinn pushed the two women and they took off running.

"Keep going!" he screamed. "Go around the other side! I'll slow him down!"

Meghan helped Alex limp around to the other side of the building where they were out of the dragon's sight. After a few seconds, Quinn bolted up next to them

"He's not moving," he said to them. "He's waiting for us."

"Quinn," Alex said quietly. "By the truck. The arrow. By the wheel."

Quinn looked over at Meghan with fear in his eyes. Without thinking about it, Meghan took his head in her hands and kissed him hard. When she released him, she pushed him in the direction of the arrow. "Go!"

The two women watched as Quinn retrieved the arrow, but was having trouble getting it inside the crossbow. Alex ran out into the dragon's sight, blasting her shotgun. When she had gone far enough, Meghan followed and pulled the dragon in the other direction away from Alex.

"No!" Quinn screamed. He got the crossbow loaded and shouted at the dragon, pulling its attention away from Alex. Meghan ran to Alex and joined her in her hiding spot. They watched the dragon breathe fire, forcing Quinn to duck behind a piece of dislodged building. When the fire had cleared, he came back out and aimed the crossbow at him. The dragon opened his mouth and then Quinn fired the crossbow. There was a thunderous explosion that forced Quinn back and Alex and Meghan to duck. When they looked back up, the dragon was motionless. Quinn had successfully killed the monster that had killed Jackson.

Meghan came out of her hiding place and ran to Quinn as fast as she could. She nearly tackled him when she hugged him.

"He always thought you could do it," Alex said as she limped over. "And you did. Come on."

"Wait," Meghan said. She went up to the dead dragon. Using one of the tools they had brought with them, she yanked out one of its teeth and stuck it in her pocket.

Then the three of them went back to the castle grounds to begin rebuilding everything. When Meghan came back to the castle, she pictured Jackson running up to her and calling her a hero again. Unfortunately, that was just a fantasy.

But Katy came out to meet her. She ran up to Meghan and the two girls shared a long and very tight hug, exchanging no words because none were needed.

Later on in the day, Meghan found a nice secluded spot and began stacking up several bricks with a piece of wood sticking out at the top. Using some dirt, she wrote "Jackson" on the wood.

"Hey, buddy," she said quietly, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. "I, uh, I got something for you." She pulled the dragon's tooth out of her pocket and laid it down in front of the bricks. "I told you I'd get you one, and I wanted to keep at least one of my promises. It's from the one that…that attacked the castle. I knew you'd want it."

She turned around at the sound of footsteps behind her and saw that it was Quinn. He kneeled down next to her. "He was one of the best kids we've ever had."

"Yeah. He told me…he told me he loved me. You know, the day before he…" Tears fell down Meghan's cheeks at a fast rate.

"His short life hasn't been for nothing. You know that right?"

Meghan nodded and gave a little laugh through her tears. "He actually…wanted us to get together. He kept asking me if we were in love."

"Then shall we show him?"

Meghan nodded and Quinn pressed his lips to hers. The kiss they shared was so much better now that they weren't fighting for their lives.

Neither of them doubted that if Jackson were there, he would've been overjoyed that Meggy and Mr. Quinn were finally admitting that they were in love.


End file.
